SigmaWay Blog

Most of the big companies are now giving more weight to big data expecting that they could generate large revenues. Studies have shown that with the help of big data, companies have improved customer experience and attracted new customers. But lack of trained professionals and the need for better infrastructure has created some barriers for companies. Also, resources required to hire new professionals raise the cost of a firm. But this problem has been tackled by Data-as-a-Service (DaaS). This is a tool that mines the big data ecosystems and delivers the right data to your marketing channels and automation programs in real times. DaaS can be implemented across a number of industries, for both B2B and B2C.  Read more at: http://www.smartdatacollective.com/lbedgood/332896/how-generate-big-data-revenue-without-big-investment-team-data-scientists

Big data is playing an important role in football during these days. Football is continuously making use of performance analytics and making use of available information more efficiently to achieve competitive advantage. Most of the top level European football clubs adopted structured analysis process and dedicated performance analysts. Now clubs are able to analyze their data at just one click of mouse. Today players are wearing GPS trackers during training, acceleration sensors and heart rate monitors which records their data of performance and after analyzing those data optimal steps can be taken to improve performance. Also analyzing the opponent's data can give the team a lead ahead to win the game. Today performance can be judge easily on and off the field. Selection of players can be done by analysis of performance. Finally we all are seeing a completely different game during these years. Read more at: http://www.smartdatacollective.com/bernardmarr/332906/how-big-data-and-analytics-are-changing-football

Back in the 20's, technology used to be simple. Core functions of the system were not affected by the records management. Every organization has started getting connected to the internet in order to make the lives easier of their workers as well customers. Everyone wants to get access to basic information over the internet as it is an opportunity to learn more about everything which relates to good or bad performance. Even from the customer's side, access to internet helps business with floods of data which leads them to focused marketing. Such information is also spread to the hackers. Hackers then use such individual information to get through government entities or set up robbery attacks. As keepers of the information, companies should hence protect the data and make sure trust is not violated. The exposed information is generally customer information. Determined hackers cannot be stopped from entering into the system. Identities are stolen and more valuable information is lost other than just credit card numbers. Data should be protected by the organization as if it was their own personal information. Apps are a disaster these days as they are gateways to information which directly reach the hackers since consumers unknowingly take such things for granted and provide all their details. Security and privacy experts should be hired and organizations should be very careful with customer information. Read more at: http://www.cmswire.com/information-management/protect-information-as-if-it-was-your-own/?pageNum=2

Customers have so many options these days online - to shop, read articles, watch videos and more. A brand or publisher will quickly attract attention of its customers by serving only the most relevant information. There lies the difficulty to figure out what exactly should be the useful information published. Few ways to discover and build better customer profiles are:
Down with static profiles: the building process of better customer profiles never ends. Companies should keep in mind that customers are dynamic and once a macro view of the customer is available, the problem gets sorted.
Why, where and when: context is equally important and information on whether the consumer is on mobile or a tablet or which time of the day it is and other important questions can help companies recognize a clear picture of preferences of the customers.
The customer knows best: consumer choice brought into personalization equation is a positive step for a variety of reasons. This element of choice enhances communication between brand and consumers and provides value to both parties.
Companies which can implement choice, better customer profiles, and context consideration will be able to successfully personalize a user’s experience online.
Read more at: http://www.cmswire.com/customer-experience/personalization-give-your-customers-a-choice/?pageNum=2

Companies are today becoming more digital. By digital some mean new technology, for some it is a new way of doing business. Business leaders must have a clear picture of what digital really means and what it means to their business. The term 'digital' should be less seen as a thing and more a way of doing things. There are three attributes to the definition of digital: Creating value at new frontiers: being digital requires being open to new ways of doing business, and understanding where the new value frontiers are. It also means staying closely connected to customer decisions and understanding their expectations in order to keep us with the trend.
Creating value in core businesses: the next element in being digital is to use new capabilities to improve how customers are served. An interconnected set of four core capabilities namely proactive decision making, contextual interaction, real time automation and journey focused innovation can help implement a cyclical dynamic where processes constantly evolved based on inputs from the consumer.
Building foundational capabilities: the final element is about the technology and organizational processes that help enterprises become agile and fast. The two core elements used for such process are mind sets and system data and architecture.
Digital is about unlocking the growth now and also a clear picture of what digital means helps the business to capture maximum value.
Read more at: http://www.mckinsey.com/insights/high_tech_telecoms_internet/what_digital_really_means

The internet of things is a name for the growing network of physical devices which have sensors to collect and exchange data with users or other devices. Such information is used for personal convenience. Collecting such information can help make lives easier. Companies are collecting the data not just for improving standard of living but also form themselves. This helps advertisers know every bit of information about the consumers regarding what they do, when they do and how they do it. The government is way behind in understanding what actually the internet of things is and companies take a more active role in putting security in place before they get ahead of themselves with data collection. The reality is that developers are thinking about what they could do rather than what they should do with it. The main focus should be on user’s privacy maintenance so that their information is never at risk while commercial efficiencies are also realized.
Read more at: http://www.smartdatacollective.com/semcasting-emory-paine/332361/internet-things-realities-interconnected-world?ref=popular_posts

It is said that a very small percentage of the retailers are keen on using the customer analysis tool in spite of the retail industry being the most refined tool across sectors for analysis of customer behaviour. Dave Nash(director at consultancy West Monroe Partners), has mentioned that this tool is still not as popular as it should be for the very reason of the dearth of relevant customer data that cannot be assimilated into other operational data and also due to lack of skill and the knowledge to use them appropriately. But Elaneor McDonnell Feit (assistant professor of marketing at Drexel University) believe otherwise. According to her, the percentage of retailers investing in developing their customer data set is high. She is of the view that what is required using these data appropriately to take the right decisions for various functions of the firm and implementing them in the most efficient way. Feit has also mentioned a very innovative and out of the box tool for this purpose: Recommendation engine. The recommendation engine is a mechanized tool to facilitate the buying process of the customers, by guiding them find the thing they need. These recommendation engines are tailored for specific businesses and its customers making it unique as a retailer.
Hence, every firm should have a data driven approach within the retail industry which will help the entire economy to grow progressively and efficiently.
Read more at: http://www.cmswire.com/analytics/retail-could-make-better-use-of-customer-analytics/

The idea of using information and data for various purposes is not new and has been there since the first web connection was developed. Computer scientist John McCarthy had developed the idea of cloud computing. The internet has grown at a very small pace since the 70's but got revived in the early 90's when first move towards cloud computing was taken. Heavy investment and development in cloud computing shows it is predicted that cloud computing is soon to go mainstream with 34.1 percent of IT sector already running applications in the cloud and 66.4 percent are looking into the cloud, planning to implement installations. Server performance tuning has become easier and finding query performance is now rapid through database analyser, all due to the cloud where our future lies. Cloud computing has become a global phenomenon and people are choosing it for solution in a hybrid manner. Soon companies have to fully turn to cloud computing as it becomes mainstream and lots of other companies shall create their own unique framework including internal cloud adoption. Read more at: http://www.smartdatacollective.com/rick-delgado/324781/foreseeable-future-cloud-computing-explained

Financial managers find it very difficult to reconcile goods received against invoices not received. This issues called 'GR-NI' is time consuming to manage. The problem hence gets reduced to lowest of the priorities and leads to increase of financial liabilities and risk for the business. Without proper automation to monitor the discrepancies, paperwork gets piled up which leads to supplier connections suffering and credits being misused. However, with software based supplier reconciliation process in place, the organization can get rid of this huge task and also improve its audit processes solving several risk issues as they arise. A simple overview of the new 'GR-NI' process says that creation of a database with financial and orders data is to be integrated followed by different other steps. The key elements of this solution are methods to get statements directly into the system regardless of format and source and many others. To maximize the value, operational areas should be looked into that can benefit from better processes. Read more at: http://www.smartdatacollective.com/keith-peterson/329860/using-procurement-analytics-simplify-your-supplier-reconciliation

Restaurant businesses have become very difficult to handle recently due to decreased margins, rising costs and ever growing competition. Effectively controlling these variables using modern tools can help the business grow in the right direction. The new tools used in this industry are solving the problems vastly in a cheaper method. Using the tools to their highest potential can give amazing results. • Obtaining customers: the primary goal is to obtain maximum customers so that the restaurant business can flourish and can reap more benefits as well.
• Prioritizing the customer: the customer should always be the first priority for any industry so that the business can maintain its reputation by making sure none of the customers have to wait for their preferences.
• Seamless transactions: a smooth and positive customer experience can be enhanced only by accurately ensuring that no customer has to wait longer for the bill or food and time is not wasted in any way.
• Smart supply: supply should meet demand and the customers should consume all that is ordered to make sure benefits derived are maximum.
• Efficient workforce management: employees define the business and managing them efficiently can help the business maintain its functional peaks.
Customers are why the business exists and hence keeping them happy should be the sole purpose. Such tools can help solve all the problems and acquire maximum gains from it.
Read more at: http://www.smartdatacollective.com/peterdavidson/330482/5-best-management-tools-help-your-restaurant-business

Many experts believe the model for Internet of Things (IoT) will be smart sensors communicating directly into machine clouds. Edge computing is a critical element needed for the advancement of the IoT. Here is 7 reasons why: 1. The edge is the muffler for data exhaust
2. Time can matter as edge processing reduces time spent.
3. Configurability is an important clause in shaping the future of IoT.
4. Implementing a secure IoT.
5. Governance will become more important.
6. The proper architecture will be needed to accommodate the market demands.
7. Cost as edge processing will be costlier in most cases.
To know more: http://www.thoughtsoncloud.com/2015/07/7-reasons-edge-computing-is-critical-to-iot/

There is a fear attached to the security of cloud. However these are myths. Some are:
1. Cloud is riskier than traditional IT: Data breaches can happen on premise. The efficient way is to work with a competent, experienced provider that invests in strong network securities.
2. You can’t control where your data resides in the cloud: regulated industries like health care require valuable information. This is discredited because organizations can choose specific region based data centers, private clouds.
3. The cloud is not suitable for complaint workload: organizations can leverage for private or hybrid cloud development model better suited to the needs.
To know more, follow: http://www.information-age.com/technology/cloud-and-virtualisation/123459832/3-myths-about-cloud-and-security

Today marketers know how to enhance customer experience and implement new strategies to attract new customers. Big data, social media marketing and customer relations have influenced the marketing behavior. There will be no insights without data. But by managing data and analyzing it will lead to achieving marketing goals. Analysis of data should be such that it provides helpful conclusion to businesses to make strategies and reach goals. Documentation of business objectives helps business to know what type of data is required and how to manage data. Data should be integrated and structured in such a way that it is reliable to customers. Data validation is required to check the validity of data.   Read more at: http://www.smartdatacollective.com/lbedgood/332008/ultimate-beginner-s-guide-data-quality-and-business-intelligence

Data blending means combining data from multiple database sources into a single worksheet or table of a given solution in a relatively quick and straightforward way for discovering pattern between data. Big Data blending is gaining importance in businesses as data blending allows uncommon types of data to coexist in a model. New and better strategic decisions can be made by bringing together unusual feeds into one repository. Data blending and data joining are not similar and have significant differences. Joining involves combining data from the same source whereas blending involves combining data from different sources.
Read more at: http://www.cmswire.com/analytics/how-data-blending-can-sweeten-your-insights/

Increase of a site's traffic is normally taken as a brand's visibility and relevance. But often things are not what they appear to be. Hence for making out whether the visitors are real or not data, leveraging is required. Establish What “Normal” Means for Your Business – The data and tracking should be made by such a source that in case of a drastic change the problem can be isolated and identified. In order to recognize what’s normal and what’s abnormal a baseline to work from has to be established. The performance data has to be reviewed consistently and methodically.
Not All Spikes Are Bad Spikes – Identifying whether abnormal spikes in the site traffic or analytics is good or bad is difficult. Logistics issues can be alerted by sudden spikes and dips.
Common Sense and Logic – Looking for twists and reviewing behavioural flows to identify pattern of users can be employed. This helps in understanding the key attributes of the traffic or the keywords. The emerging patterns can be used for proper optimization of the flow of the site.
Read more at: http://www.cmswire.com/analytics/ask-your-data-is-it-a-bot-or-real-traffic/

The mobile enterprises compete on the basis of the speed of innovation. The developers and the QA team get involved in an organization just to differentiate one from the others in terms of technological advancement. The manual testing of mobile is too backdated and costly and so we need to incorporate the automated testing which saves cost and gives a speedy check for improved efficiency. A need to stop using own device lab and recruiting experts for helping in the process with their upgraded equipments. The devices should be put in cloud as it reduces cost and can be accessed from any remote areas with the same customer experience. The automated test environment should be properly analyzed throughout the process to avoid loss of time and money. The organizational structure should have that proper synchronization between them so that they get adapted to the technological progress so that they can maintain the continuous quality of products. The evidence is the key to formulate a perfect flow in the working mechanism and so the developer team and QA team should coordinate and move accordingly to the development of the organization as a whole.

Read more at: http://www.theserverside.com/feature/Six-Steps-to-Accelerating-Mobile-App-Testing?utm_medium=EM&asrc=EM_NLN_45439497&utm_campaign=20150720_NoSQL%20cloud%20database%20service%20targets%20developers_msargent&utm_source=NLN&track=NL-1839&ad=901868&src=901868

In recent days, since some data is sensitive and cyber crime has also progressed rapidly so it is essential for companies to ensure right data for the right people. As a result, new laws are coming forward to ensure the safety of data. Accidental leaks are regarded as one of the major cause of data breaches. Firms should make sure that they are closed to data hacking and vindictive fraud cases. Organizations use graph databases to recognize problems in the most efficient manner and to enquire about connected data. With the consequence of graphs, businesses have essential information to recognize the right people for the data and help the companies to secure their data.

Read more at: https://channels.theinnovationenterprise.com/articles/graphs-granting-access

Support software is mostly used to follow support issues. However, certain firms use it externally so that their employees can submit reports and also it helps to manage extrinsic requests from users. When it is used intrinsically, support software becomes a process instead of software. Toby Osbourn in his article on innovationenterprise.com presented the benefits of using it internally and they are as follows:

1. Queuing and Logging.
2. The value for spotting training requirements.
3. The value for upgrading systems and equipment.
4. The value in reducing support time.

Read more at: https://channels.theinnovationenterprise.com/articles/7932-support-software-as-an-agent-for-change

Data breaches have always been a broad level concern, but what is more important is the impact data breaches have. Usually after a company suffers a data breach, strict regulations are enforced curtailing employee use of data. Thus the entire workforce loses data flexibility which in turn affects productivity. At times, hasty decisions can demoralize employees. Having a data-led approach to business throughout the company is definitely a welcome change. There are a number of ways to dispel fears surrounding data. Risks surrounding data can be avoided through three elements namely policy, training and education, and technology. Policy should guide through using data and devices. Training and educating employees is relevant in avoiding breaches. Technology will protect the business in case of a data breach. Having an intelligent, flexible and secure approach to information management will ensure effective use of data while guarding against risks. Read more at:https://channels.theinnovationenterprise.com/articles/don-t-be-scared-of-your-data

In the years, succeeding the financial crisis, the banking sector was restructured ranging from changes in regulations to customer service. The major problems that banks are facing include customer dissatisfaction, fraud, increased competition and regulations and all these issues can be solved using Big Data analytics. By leveraging transactional, behavioral and social data, banks can provide a hyper-personalized customer service. Risk management is another area where analytics can be of help. Big Data analytics can detect cybercrimes and predict the location of attack. It can also identify deviation in customer behavior which is indicative of fraud. Big Data technologies can be used to integrate external watch list screening system and unstructured emerging data sources. There is a huge scope for newcomers in Fintech sector to exploit Big Data as they are built keeping analytics in mind. The big banks should adopt new technologies to leverage the wealth of data they possess and maintain a competitive edge. Read more at:https://channels.theinnovationenterprise.com/articles/analytics-in-banking